Road grader



June l7,1930. A. MONTANO 1,763,807:

ROAD GRADER File J n- 1929. 2 Sheet-Sheot 1 dual/wag gwtnmtoz June 17, 1930. A, MQNTANO 1,763,897

ROAD GRADER Filed 1929 2 shp ets sheot Patented June 17, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ANTONIO MONTANO, OF LA JAB-A, CQLORADQ, ASS'IGNO R F ONE=HALF TO FRED GON" 'ZALES, OF LA JAM, COLORADO ROAD GRADER Application filed January 7, 1929. Serial No. 330,815.

This invention relates to improvements in matchmaking machinery and has reference more particularly to a grader for use in making crown surfaced roads. of the type employed where dirt roads are used.

In many places of our country where the roads are not paved, they must be periodically worked with a scraper or grader in such a way as to move dirt from the outer edges of the road towards the center so as to fill ruts and to maintain the upper surface of the road transversely convex in order that water may run towards the sides and be prevented from cutting ditches longitudinally of the road. When new roads are made, theseare also finished with a transversely convex road surface. 1

In making new roads and in finishing old roads, it is customary to employ a grader which is made in the form of a truck having four wheels, the front wheels of which are movable for the purpose of guiding and determining the direction of travel, and which is provided with a scraper blade located underneath the truck between the front and rear wheel and extending diagonally so that it will function to transferdirt from one side of the truck towards the other. These graders are very heavy and are usually pulled by means of tractors, usually of the track laying or caterpillar type. The tractor must be run substantially in the center of the road as it is impractical to operate the tractor along the inclined side of the road, whereas the grader tips over, thereby causing a large amount of damage and delay.

It is the object of this invention to produce a grader that shall be so'constructed that the truck portion of the grader can follow directly behind the tractor and which therefore makes it possible for both the tractor and the grader to travel substantially on the crown of the road where there is no danger of either the tractor of the grader tipping, and which necessitates less power for operating the grader.

The above and other objects which will become apparent as the description proceeds are attained by means of the construction and arrangement of parts which will now be described in detail, reference for this purpose being had to the accompanying drawings in which the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the improved grader;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 22, Fig. 1, and shows the means employed for attaching the rear end of the grader blade to the truck portion;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 33, Fig. 1, and shows the meansemployed for attaching the front end of the blade to the truck portion;

Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 4 4, Fig. 3, and illustrates a detail of the construction;

Fig. 5 is a plan view showing the tractor and grader operatively connectedand in the position they occupy during operation;

Fig. 6 is a transverse section of the road taken on line 66, Fig. 5, and shows the position of the parts with respect to the convex road surface; and

Fig. 7 is a top plan view showing a tractor and grader of the ordinary type and illustrates the position of these two machines with respect to the road surface.

In the drawing, numeral 1 designates th grader truck body which is mounted .on wheels, the rear wheels have been indicated'by reference numeral and the front wheels by reference numeral 3. A tongue 4 isconnece ed with the front wheels in the usual :manner. The truck body is usually formed from a frame having channel iron sides and ends like those indicated by reference numeral ,5 in Fig. 3, and has a platform 6 secured to athenpper surfacelof this frame; Secured to the upper surface of the frame at a point substantially midway between the front and the rear ends thereof are two brackets 7 and 8, which are secured to the truck body by means of bolts 9. Both of these brackets are provided with bearings 10 in which the shaft 11 is rotatably mounted. Secured to the shaft and located between the two supporting brackets is a flanged drum 12 whose outer end is provided with a worm wheel like that indicated by reference numeral 13 in Fig. 3. Bracket 7 is provided with two spaced bearings 14 in which a shaft 15 is rotatably mounted. A worm 1G is carried by this shaft and cooperates with the worm wheel which is located directly below. A hand wheel 17 is secured to the front end of shaft 15 and carries a handle 18 which can be employed for rotating the hand wheel. Secured to the rear right hand corner of the truck body is a bracket or structure comprising a vertical member 19 which has a transverse brace 20 secured to the truck body by means of a bolt 21 and a longitudinally extending brace 22 bolted to the truck body at 23. A pulley 24 mounted for rotation on a pivot 25 secured to the upper ends of the vertical member 19 and the brace 20 in the manner shown in Fig. 2. A cable 26 has one end secured to the drum 12 and passes rearwardly and over the pulley 24, thence downwardly through a hole in the bottom 6 and over a pulley 27 located underneath the truck body in the manner shown in Figs. 1 and 2. A bracket 28 is secured to the lower flange of the channel iron 29 in the manner shown in Fig. 2 and serves as a support for the angle iron brace 30 to which reference will hereinafter be made.

The truck body carries another windlass like the one just described but which is located nearer the front of the truck and is turned ninety degrees so that the axis of shaft 11 extends in the direction of the length of the truck. As the parts are constructed like those of the Windlass just described, they have been given the same reference numerals. Secured to the right hand side of the truck body near the front thereof is a supporting member 31 which is preferably formed from angle iron which has been bent into U-shape and whose lower end is secured to the outer surface of the side member 5 by means of bolts or rivets 32. Braces 33 extend from points 34 011 the supporting member to points 35 on the truck platform 6 in the manner shown in Fig. 3. A pulley 36 is suspended from underneath the supporting member and a cable 37 has one end secured to the flanged drum 12 and passes over the pulley 36 and has its other end connected to the outer end of the brace member 38 by means of a clevis 39. The brace bar 38 has its inner end provided with afiattened portion which has an opening for the reception of the pin 40 by means of which it is pivotally connected with the lug 41 that extends through one of the openings 42 in the channel 5 and which is secured in place thereto by means of nuts 43. By rotating the drum to which cable 37 is connected the outer end of member 38 can be raised and lowered in a manner quite apparent from the showing in Fig. 3, and the front end of the brace member can be adjusted longitudinally of the truck by moving the in 41 from one to the other of holes 42.

A scraper blade 44 made from a convex sheet of steel is provided on its convex side with a T iron 45 which serves as a strengthening member and extends from one end of the blade to the other in the manner shown in Fig. 1. The outer end of the angle bar 30 is secured to the flange of the T iron by means of bolts 46 and has its inner end supported by the bracket 38 in the manner shown in Fig. 2. The outer end of cable 26 is secured to the member 30 by means of a clevis 47. The outer end of the brace member 38 has the outwardly extending flange cut away and the horizontal flange bent reversely so as to form a Ushaped hook member like that designated by reference numeral 48 in Fig. 3. This hook is adapted to embrace the flange of the T-iron and is secured to the latter by means of a bolt 49. By operating the drum to which the cable 26 is attached, the rear end of the scraper blade can be adjusted inwardly or outwardly with respect to the truck and when the drum to which cable 37 is attached is rotated the front end of the scraper blade can be raised and lowered. A chain 50 is attached to the outer end of member 38 at 51 and extends to the drawbar of the tractor which has been indicated by reference numeral 52 in Figs. 5 and 7. The tongue 4 of the truck is also connected to the drawbar thereby pro ducing a triangular hitch like that shown in Fig. 5. The scraper blade 44 extends outwardly from the truck and is made of such length that when the parts are properly adjusted, the tractor and truck will be located substantially in the center of the road when operating on a road of ordinary width. It is now apparent that with the parts connected in the manner shown in Fig. 5, dirt can be scraped inwardly from the sides of the road without subjecting the grader to the danger of being mired in the soft mud which is sometimes present along the outer surface of the roadway or exposed to the danger of tipping, which often occurs asabove intimated, when the parts are connected in the manner shown in Fig. 7. Vith one man riding on the truck and operating the drum to which cable 37 is connected, it is possible to maintain the transverse grade of the road uniforn'i and to avoid obstructions such as transverse culverts and similar things. Attention is directed at this time to the great advantage of this construetion over that illustrated in Fig. 7 when passing over transverse culverts as with this ram construction the grader blade can be maintained in operative position while passing over the culvert, thereby producing a road surface that is quite straight, whereas when a grader like that shown in Fig. 7 and indicated by reference numeral 53 is employed, the scraper blade 54 has to be raised before passing over such culverts with the result that the road surface will have convex curvatures at such points that are highly objectionable from the standpoint of automobile traffic.

Another advantage to which attention is directed is that this grader can be made much lighter than the ordinary type of grader and since it travels in the tracks made by the tractor, the tractive effort required to be exerted by the tractor is very small in comparison with that necessary when an ordinary grader is used, and the work can therefore be performed with a much less expenditure of gas thereby reducing the cost of the work.

In the above description and on the accompanying drawings there has been described and shown a grader having a single grader blade extending from one side thereof. It

is, of course, possible to duplicate this grader blade and the windlasses employed therewith so that the road may be simultaneously graded from both sides, if this should be found to have any advantage over the construction shown and described.

From the above description it will be apparent that the apparatus described and illustrated is of simple and substantial design and that it is especially well adapted for road work as by the construction shown lighter and less expensive machinery can be used and a much smaller expenditure of power is required due to the fact that the grader can travel in the center of the road and follow the tracks of the tractor and to the greatly diminished weight of the apparatus.

Having described the invention what is claimed as new is:

1. A road grading machine comprising a truck having a body mounted on wheels, a grader blade located to one side of the truck, the rear end of the blade being nearer the truck than the front end, a brace member rigidly secured to the rear end of the blade and projecting underneath the truck body, means for connecting said brace member with the truck body, said means and the brace member being slidably connected whereby the latter may move in the direction of its length, means carried by the truck for adjusting the position of the rear end of the grader blade towards the truck body, a rigid member extending from the front end of the blade to the truck body, a pulley supported above the truck, a cable having one end connected with the outer end of the rigid member and passing over the pulley, and a Windlass carried by the truck, the other end of the cable being attached to the Windlass whereby when the Windlass is operated the front end of the blade will be raised and lowered with respect to the truck.

2. A road grading machine comprising a truck having a body mounted on wheels, a grader blade located to one side of the truck, the rear end of the blade being nearer the truck than the front end, a brace member rigidly secured to the rear end of the blade and projecting underneath the truck body, means for connecting said brace member with the truck body, the brace member being slidably connected with the connecting means whereby it may be moved in the direction of its length, a cable having one end connected with the rear end of the blade, a Windlass secured to the truck, the other end of the cable being connected with the windlass whereby when the Windlass is operated the distance from the rear end of the blade to the truck will be varied, a rigid member extending from the front end of the blade to the truck, a support extending upwardly from the truck on the side adjacent the blade, apulley carried by the support, a Windlass carried by the truck, and a cable passing over the pulley, one end of the cable being connected with the Windlass and the other with the outer end of the rigid member whereby when the last named Windlass is operated the front end of the blade will be raised and lowered.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signa ture.

ANTONIO MONTANO. 

